YUGEN
by MiyuKazu
Summary: In which a girl refuses to be chained to a life of eternal servitude, so she sets out to become a strong and independent woman. She will be free. She will dance. And all will know her name. (SIOC. AU. GEN. No reincarnation/metaknowledge.)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters that have appeared in the franchise. I only own this fic, and my OCs.

**Note**: Updates for KAZUE and Hydrangea are in the works. Plot bunnies for YUGEN wouldn't leave me alone to focus on those stories, so here we are.

Inspired by Aleycat4eva's _Of the River and the Sea, _Lang Noi's _Catch Your Breath_, and EmptySurface's _Hear the Silence_.

* * *

YUGEN refers to an understanding; a different way of viewing the universe; the ability to recognize beauty hiding underneath what is actually seen. This understanding, impossible to describe with words, is often referred to as mysterious— and sometimes, even lonely.

* * *

Her name is Ronokichi. She has no surname.

Ronokichi really isn't even a _proper_ name. Her mother must have been high off post-birth endorphins or _something_, because Ronokichi is a _show name_. It apparently means lucky backbone, or something like that, "a true _dancer's_ name," her mother justifies, because why should she have gone through the trouble of giving the child a real name when she's destined to eventually work at the okiya, anyway?

Girls who are born into an okiya (like Ronokichi) rarely ever get the opportunity to escape, so it's better this way. All of the girls receive a geisha name _eventually_. So, if she is raised as Ronokichi (as a _showgirl_) and never knows to answer to anything else, she'll never _know_ anything else.

She'll be the perfect courtesan.

Her mother chooses to ignore when she gazes longingly out of the windows, and when she asks their big, strong shinobi guests of their adventures outside of the village. She turns a blind eye when Ronokichi mentions her love of knowledge, and regular guests begin to 'tip' her tea-pouring with books and postcards.

This is only a phase. She was young once, too. She has memories of attempting to run from the okiya, yet, here she is _now_.

Ronokichi will grow into a fine little lady in no time.

Ronokichi's mother, Hisafuku, is an _oiran_— not to be confused with the usual geisha (strictly performers), or the common _yujo_ (_never_ a yujo. Hisafuku is _not_ a _whore_.) She is a _high_ courtesan. She is a _tayu_, a lady of high status (as high as one can get in the red-light district, anyway), that is both admired _and_ envied by other women everywhere. She is a woman of _class_. She is a performer, first and foremost, and she won't just open her legs for _anybody_.

Hisafuku, just as Ronokichi, was born into the okiya. She worked hard to get to where she is now, and she expects, just as _she_ did her mother before her, that Ronokichi surpasses her in every way as well.

As soon as Ronokichi uttered her very first words, she was taught to sing.

Not long after she began to crawl, she was instructed to dance.

She picks things up quickly and memorizes things easily.

Hisafuku doesn't bat an eye at her child's seemingly high intelligence. It only serves as a testament of the girl's father's strong genetics. Hisafuku _chose_ him, after all. It would be very bad business for oiran to become pregnant by way of her profession, but when a pretty shinobi with _desirable_ characteristics from a certain clan fell into the palm of her hands (or rather, her lap), Hisafuku decided to 'accidentally' forget to take her contraceptives. (She's lucky that Ronokichi takes more after her than anyone else. The shinobi remains her client to this day, he stops by a few times a year, and he's never _once_ suspected Ronokichi's parentage.)

Ronokichi is Hisafuku's _perfect _specimen.

Now, at four years old, Ronokichi holds herself with professionalism, unusual for a child of her age and upbringing. However, Hisafuku wouldn't have it any other way. She had to use quite a bit of sway to have Ronokichi working from so young, after all.

Her small fingers press into the silk strings of her miniature, child-sized _shamisen_. She plays a soft countermelody to her mother's _koto_ and adds harmony to her mother's voice by supplying her own. Sitting in seiza hurts. Her back hurts from sitting so straight and rigid for so long. Her fingers are chubby, and are not yet as flexible as expected of her; she struggles to keep up with her mother's harsh tempo.

The woman does _not_ falter.

But Ronokichi knows better than to _stop _playing altogether.

She will not embarrass her mother, not again.

To their audience, Hisafuku is displaying a picture perfect representation of graceful and serene, but Ronokichi _knows better_. There is an ever so slight quirk to the woman's brow, and a certain stiffness in her shoulders that hints at _annoyance_, and Ronokichi knows that after the guests leave, she's in for a world of pain.

(Well into the night, after the men have left, she is gifted twenty lashings to her bottom. Let it be known that despite her small, feminine stature, Hisafuku has a very _strong _arm. When enquired what Ronokichi had been practicing during her free time, if not her shamisen, she decides to withhold the fact that she'd been practicing ninjutsu hand signs, just as she'd seen some of the older children from the orphanage down the street do. She imagines that if her mother ever found the truth, she'd receive _more_ than twenty spanks.)

* * *

As precocious as she is, Ronokichi is still a child. She likes to run, jump, and play. She _loves _reading story books and hearing grandiose tales from her mother's clients, never mind their hyperboles. Believe it or not, she even enjoys singing and playing her shamisen when she isn't being _forced to _do it.

Most of all, though, she loves to dance. Ronokichi seems to have a very keen sense of spacial awareness, and has a sort of control over her body that many of the okiya's _meiko_ train for years to achieve. Ronokichi doesn't really need to _think _before she moves. Her body simply bends to the music, and her heart thrums to the beat of the tsuzumi drums.

Sometimes, her older sisters (children of other oiran, or the younger meiko) join her in her dances. Other times, they show her harder sequences, give her friendly advice, or suggest a different combination of movements. Occasionally, a drunken guest will stumble into the room she's officially dubbed as her practice room, and she'll end up giving an accidental performance.

No matter what, when she dances, she dances with a smile on her face.

As the youngest in the house, Ronokichi _does_ occasionally find herself lonely. Her mother _is _the most popular of the tayu, so she doesn't have a lot of time to train her as the other mother's do _their _children, and many of the meiko are too busy with their apprenticeships to play with her.

There's a reason why, of all the rooms in the okiya, she chose this one as her favorite.

The doorway faces the sun, and Ronokichi never fails to slide the entrance of the room open whenever the sun begins to set. Her favorite activity is dancing with her shadow. Sometimes, if she angles her body _just righ_t, multiple shadows even appear!

Instead of just _one_ playmate, the sun grants her three!

Isn't that amazing?

"You're _weird_."

Ronokichi swivels around to meet the unamused stare of another tayu's child, a girl not much older than her. She does not pause in her steps.

"Why would you say that?" She asks.

"You're always..._moving_," the girl responds, her nose wrinkled in distaste, "How do you even dance when there's no music?"

Ronokichi laughs.

"That's silly of you to think," her voice wavers slightly, as though she can't decide whether she wants to speak or sing. The last syllable of her sentences sometimes ring with vibrato. "There's always music if you listen hard enough."

The birds tweeting; the crickets chirping. The pour of the mini waterfall they have in their backyard garden. _Anything_ can be a song.

"That's...not true." The other girl says flatly, "God, you're so _weird_."

Ronokichi doesn't take any offense. She cannot for the life of her remember this girl's name, and her memory is pretty darn tootin' good, so this girl must not be very important at all if her brain decided to filter her out.

She decides to change the subject.

"Hey, look at this!" She says as she hooks her thumbs together and raises her arms above her head. A black butterfly appears on the wall in front of her, and her eyes twinkle with excitement as it flaps its wings and follows her across the room as she runs. "I can make other shapes, too! You want to see a dog?"

The older child scoffs. "Hasn't your mother ever told you not to play with your shadow?"

Ronokichi pauses. She tilts her head to the side, feeling a bit scandalized, actually. "Why would she do that?"

"Hoh?" The girl teases, "You must be too young to know, then. Oops. My bad. You didn't hear that."

Ooh, Ronokichi absolutely _detests_ not knowing things!

She pulls on the other girl's long kimono sleeve and drags her over to her little tea table. She squints at her for a bit, trying to put a name to the very familiar face, but nope! Nothing comes to mind. One can't ever go wrong with 'big sister,' though, she supposes. "Nee-san, please tell me! I want to know."

The girl allows herself to be seated at the table. She taps her long, manicured nails against her teacup as Ronokichi pours some of the warm beverage into it.

"Hmm," she pretends to think on it, "I'm not sure you can handle it."

Ronokichi gasps. "Of course I can handle it!"

"I'm really not sure that you _can_."

"I can! I can!"

A sly grin spreads across the nameless girl's face.

"Well," she leans forward, "if you insist."

She turns her head around, to the entrance of the room, before turning from side to side, as if waiting for someone to scold her for divulging a wicked secret. Then she leans even closer towards Ronokichi and begins to whisper conspicuously. "You see, the shadow people are _real_."

Ronokichi's brain short circuits. "They're _what_?"

"Hush!" The girl hisses. She places a finger against Ronokichi's lips. "They're _listening_!"

Ronokichi narrows her eyes suspiciously towards the walls surrounding them. Is nowhere safe? How is she supposed to live if there's always a shadow person listening! Have they only been pretending to be her friends this whole time?

The other girl snickers.

"Yeah, you see." She pauses to sip her tea, "Our ancestors enslaved their people. They're bound to follow us around for all of eternity, BUT!"

Ronokichi flinches.

"But?"

"If you abuse that power, they'll get mad."

She blinks rapidly. _No_, she's _not _tearing up, there's dust in her eyes.

"How do you know if you're abusing them?"

Nameless girl shrugs. "You don't. It's not like they can talk."

Ronokichi's snowy complexion becomes rather _ghostly_.

"It's better not to mess with them _at all_, lest you face their wrath, but, well, it might already be too late for _you_."

"W-what do they do when they get mad?"

Nameless signals her to come closer with the wag of a finger. Ronokichi leans in. Even quieter than before, Nameless whispers. "They'll wait for you to fall asleep in the middle of the night, and once they're sure, they'll become sentient and choke you to _death_."

"What?!" Then younger girl squeaks.

"Even worse, still," Nameless swallows, "they'll add color to themselves afterwards and replace you."

"They can do that?"

"Sure." Nameless says, as if it should be obvious, "haven't you ever heard of shadow-clone-jutsu?"

"Oh my god." Ronokichi whispers.

Nameless throws her head back and laughs. "Good luck, kiddo. I hope you sleep with one eye open tonight."

The four year old promptly bursts into tears.

_Good_. Nameless thinks. _Nobody likes her, anyway. _

She _wishes _the shadow people would come to life and kill the younger girl. It's so annoying when all the adults compare the rest of the kids to her. Is it _their_ fault that she's some kind of _freak _that can't sit still? Nobody can practice dancing twenty-four hours a day like that _brat _can. It's impossible to be as good as her!

From then on, Ronokichi develops a slight fear of shadows— and an extra fear of mirrors, because, _what if mirror people are real, too_? She'll deny it vehemently if anyone were to mention her general avoidance of any and all walls or reflective surfaces, though.

Hisafuku finds it both very amusing and very ironic.

* * *

**Note**: My grandmother told me that damn shadow realm story when I was younger because I was playing with shadows with the lamp in her bedroom, she wanted to go to bed, and I wouldn't leave. I didn't have a good night's sleep for _months_, and for a good couple of years from when I was maybe 3 or 4 to 7 or 8, I was scared of fucking mirrors and shadows. Literally thought someone was always watching me and that I was going to die.

Also, yeah, first chapter's _really short_, sorry. I reckon the chapters for this story will gradually become longer as the plot thickens.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters that have appeared in the franchise. I only own this fic, and my OCs.

**Note**: **trigger warning** \- pedophilia(?), and mentions of sexual/general abuse of sex workers.

* * *

It starts small.

Sometimes, she'll see something dark or mysterious in the corner of her vision. Or perhaps, an item that she'd previously placed in one part of the room somehow reappears at another. At first, Ronokichi plays it off as tricks of the light or poor memory, but deep down, she _knows_.

Light can't replicate humanoid figures, and her memory is very, _very_ good.

She shadows must be out to get her.

During the darkest hours of the night, Ronokichi can make out whispers, and hisses, and sometimes, even laughter.

She is terrified.

The shadows have been after her for _weeks_. She's learned to sleep lightly— fearful that if she were to ever let herself go too far, she'll be killed.

As a result, purple bags have emerged under her eyes, completely out of place on her literally baby-face.

"Unbelievable." Hisafuku sighs as she dabbles a cotton pad onto her daughter's skin, "I've trained some young meiko, but never before have I applied makeup on a _four year old_."

Ronokichi tenses her jaw in order to restrain a yawn. Her eyes water, and her mother hisses when she reaches up to wipe away her stray tears. The makeup, having not been set yet, smears. Hisafuku slaps the child's hands away from her face before dabbing her cheeks lightly with a towel and starting all over again.

"I'm sorry, mother," Ronokichi slurs, having not completely awoken quite yet, "I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping."

"Oh, I'm aware. Does it have anything to do with your sudden fear of _walls_?"

She giggles, though her cheeks adopt a pinkish hue due to embarrassment.

"No, mother, not _walls_. Although sleeping next to one doesn't help."

There's an entertained hum from Hisafuku as she powders Ronokichi's under-eyes, setting the makeup.

"Shadows, then?"

Ronokichi grunts in response, only to soon after be on the receiving end of a harsh glare.

"Use your words." Hisafuku warns with a hand raised threateningly, though there's a very _entertained _glint to her eyes.

"_Yes_," Ronokichi elaborates, "the shadows have been keeping me up."

Hisafuku frowns. She'd suspected that there might have been a bullying problem between her daughter and some of the older (soon-to-be-meiko) girls, but she didn't think that it would get so bad.

She _would_ step in, but it's really not her place to discipline the other tayus' children, and she would hate to cause any inner-house conflicts between herself and her peers. The last thing that she needs to deal with is client nabbing or unnecessary gossip.

But still.

(But _still_, for all that she is harsh on her daughter, she also loves her daughter twice- no, thrice that much! It pains her to see the girl suffer.)

She traces Ronokichi's puffy eye-bags. Ronokichi's still a bit too young for this kind of lesson, but, the sooner she deals with this the better. This world is a harsh place, especially for women, and when exceptionally talented females are so hard to come by, jealous individuals will always make unwarranted appearances.

Ronokichi's a smart girl. She has her father to thank for that.

Hisafuku is sure that the issue will play itself out. (And on the abysmal chance that it _doesn't_, Hisafuku isn't above asking one of her beloved shinobi clients for a favor. She'll show them how terrifying shadows can _truly _be.)

"Well, off you go." Hisafuku pats on Ronokichi's cheeks. They're actually quite lucky that they've been gifted such a stark white complexion. The white face paint that the geisha tend to favor blends seamlessly into Ronokichi's skin. This will, no doubt, prove beneficial in the future. "I have no lessons planned for you today since you're already so far ahead of everyone else."

At that, Ronokichi lets out a little cheer.

"Whatever you do, be safe, and check in with me or one of the other girls during meal times so an adult will know where you are."

Ronokichi squirms in her seat, energized by the soon incoming dismissal.

"And remember to get at least three hours of practice in!" She finishes in unison with her mother, having heard this speech plenty of times before. "Okay, bye, mother! Love you!" She scrambles up from the floor and runs out of the room, grinning to herself when her mother's laughter rings out of the opened exit.

Oh, what to do? What to do?

She _could _practice playing her shamisen first and get it out of the way, but she doesn't really feel like it first thing in the morning. She could find a nice and sturdy tree, climb up it, and make up songs inspired by the passersby to sing, but she did that during her free-time the previous day!

Although, it _was _really fun, so she might actually do that again.

Dancing, she knows, will happen throughout the day without prompting, so she doesn't have to worry about practicing _that_.

"Ah, you're still alive."

There's only one person who ever greets Ronokichi like that.

She perks up and waves. "Good morning!"

Even after observing her for a few weeks, she still doesn't remember Nameless's name, and at this point, she's too embarrassed to ask for it.

"It _was_ good until we saw your face." Minion number one says. Ronokichi dubs her as 'ichi' in her head. She's not a child of the okiya, although she's certainly pretty enough to be one. By her standard (and dirty) clothes, Ronokichi can only guess that Ichi lives at the orphanage down the street.

"Does that mean that I've made your day even better?" She asks, head tilted to the side. Ronokichi understands that Ichi is probably being mean to her right now, but she doesn't really understand _why_. Better play nice for now.

The nameless girls cackle at once, apparently misinterpreting her sarcasm for naivety.

(Please ignore that Ronokichi's fear of shadows, is in fact, a bit naive. She's very aware that there isn't any scientific proof -trust her, she's raided the local library- but the coincidences are too much to ignore. Why is she seeing dark silhouettes in the corner of her vision? And why are her things constantly being misplaced?)

Nii, a rather pudgy girl with a nasally voice (an Akimichi bastard? She _does _also have their signature fluffy hair), taunts, "Awe, the little baby thinks she's special!"

Ronokichi blinks. When has she ever implied that she thinks _that_?

"Oh, but she _is _special," Nameless shrugs, still simpering.

"That's right," San adds, "You're good at everything, aren't you, _Ronokichi_?"

She really hates the way some of the older kids say her name. As if Ronokichi doesn't already have an issue with her name (her stupid name that's not a real name!), these girls have to go and turn it into an insult.

"I'm sorry?" Ronokichi responds. She's not sure why she's apologizing, but she also doesn't know what the appropriate response _is_. She's just trying to live her best life. "Would you like to join me during my shamisen practice? I'm sure you'll all make great musicians in no time if you practice."

"Ew," Nii rolls her eyes, "Why would we want to practice with _you_? Won't you just attract all the bad shadows?"

"Are you trying to kill us?" Nameless goads; "Take out all the competition before we even become meiko?" Ichi adds.

"Kami! Do you guys ever _shut up_?" A new voice interrupts. The girls look up to see two boys perched on the branch of a nearby tree. One has shoulder-length, straight, slate gray hair, while the other has shorter, wavier black locks.

"_You_ shut up, Nagisa!" Nameless yells back, "This is none of your business!"

"Four against one hardly seems fair, though!" The one with black hair leaps out of the tree and lands in a crouch, right next to Ronokichi. He pinches her cheeks, much to her chagrin. "And she's so teeny, too! Have you no shame?"

Ronokichi furrows her eyebrows as she debates internally over whether she should smack his hands away, or politely endure the torture since he's older than her. Age hierarchy, and all that.

The one with gray hair also jumps out of the tree, albeit quite a bit less gracefully. He points a finger at Nameless and proclaims, "It was funny at first, but now the joke's gone too far. I know where you live, so scram!"

That one must be Nagisa.

"You live at the same place, idiot!" Nameless sticks her tongue out at him before turning around and herding her minions away.

Oh.

So he's also a child of the okiya...but she's never seen him before, so he must attend the academy.

"Wow." The boy squatting near her snickers, "Sick burn."

She can't help but giggle with him, even though her cheeks hurt from his pinching.

Nagisa clutches dramatically at his heart. "I know! However will I recover from this pain? She called me an idiot!"

"Perhaps a kiss from our fair maiden?" The dark haired boy suggests.

"Ah, yes! We, your samurai in shining armor, ask humbly for your kiss of gratitude, fair maiden!"

"I, m'lady, am Uchiha Shisui! I am ten years old, an academy student!"

"And I am Shinohara Nagisa! Also ten years old, and Shisui's classmate!"

They both give her sweeping bows, and she can't help but laugh at their antics. She gives them each a smooch to the cheeks after deciding that their cheerful personalities are right up her alley.

"It's nice to meet you both," she bows back at them, more formally than they did her, "My name is Ronokichi, and I'm four."

"Whew! That's a mouthful!" Shisui tucks his chin between his thumb and his pointer finger as he thinks, "If we're going to be buddies, we're going to have to call you something else."

Nagisa nods empathetically. "Yeah. Shinohara's a bit of a mouthful, too, and before I knew it, half of our class started calling me Shin!"

"I'm calling you Chi-chan from now on." Shisui decides.

"Eh? But 'Kichi is cuter!" Nagisa...Shin...(?) argues.

They squabble for a bit, jokingly shoving at one another's shoulders and aiming kicks at each other's shins. The grins on their faces leads Ronokichi to the obvious conclusion that they must be attempting to cheer her up.

"What do _you_ think?" Shisui finally asks.

"Uh...Kichi is fine?"

It's close enough to her actual name that she won't get confused if she's called by it. Chi-chan could be anybody!

"Hah! She likes me better!" The gray haired boy grabs her from under the armpits and swoops her up into a hug. "You, little cutie, can call _me _Shin-niisan."

Nagisa's a bit of a girlish name, and when placed with his rather feminine face, many misunderstandings have ensued.

"But she looks more like me! _I_ should be her Shisui-niisan!" The boy makes grabby hands at her. "She's like, the same age as Sasuke-chan and _he_ doesn't like me because 'Tachi-chan always hogs him!"

"I'm not a baby!" Ronokichi huffs, pounding on Shin's shoulders to be put down.

Her punches don't even _tickle_ him. Darn her tiny body.

"'Course not! You're a big girl!" Shisui snatches her out of Shin's embrace and runs away with her, "And Shin-chan's _it_!"

"W-wait!"

She's laughing hysterically as they dash across the garden.

"Oi!" Shin yells as he chases after them.

"What were you guys doing in the tree, anyway?"

Shisui snorts.

"Yesterday when Shin came home from school, he heard a girl dropping some hilarious rhymes up in the trees. We wanted to meet her!"

"Oh!" She grins so hard that her cheeks hurt again, this time, for a different reason. "That was me!"

"Yeah, we figured!"

She screams when Shisui bodyflickers onto the roof of the Okiya House. The whiplash is _horrible_, but she giggles, claps her hands, and asks him to do it again.

Ronokichi doesn't think she'll mind spending her free day with these silly boys.

* * *

Kisuke is probably Ronokichi's least favorite of all of her mother's clients. Kisuke's breath smells of booze and tobacco, and he always leans in far too close whenever he speaks to her. She also doesn't like how his fingers brush against hers when she pours him tea, nor how they dig into her scalp when he pats her head far too roughly despite the praise upon his lips.

Thus, Ronokichi has decided that the best way to entertain him while he awaits in the tea room for her mother's services, is to play her shamisen and avoid interaction at all costs.

If only he would understand the message.

"You're quite pretty, aren't you, Kichi-chan?"

Her grip on the neck of her instrument becomes a bit harder than necessary. Her smile is strained. _Ronokichi _is her performance name. _Ronokichi _is the name dedicated towards strangers such as himself. He does not have permission to call her anything _but_ Ronokichi.

"I can call you that, right? I heard your little friends calling you that the other day."

_No_, she wants to respond, but she knows that if her mother hears one ill word of her, she'll be spanked until she's black and blue. She also doesn't understand when, where, why, or _how_, he was able to overhear her friends calling her by the name, but she doesn't have the time to ponder on it. "Of course, Kisuke-sama." She replies instead.

In no _universe _would she ever willingly address Kisuke with _sama_, but of course, some clients prefer to be treated as royalty while they visit the okiya. She strums her instrument a tad louder and hopes that her mother would hurry it up with the woman that she's currently entertaining.

"Kichi-chan, I'm out of tea. Won't you pour me some more?"

She grits her teeth as she finishes her piece with a conclusive chord. "Of course, Kisuke-sama."

She places her precious shamisen and bachi on the mat beside her before carefully shifting her body to face the man directly. She pours him tea.

"So obedient," he all but purrs, "though I like my girls with a bit more spunk, like your mother."

Ronokichi swallows. She's not sure where this is going, but she doesn't like it.

Right on time, the shoji dividing Hisafuku's tea room from her main room slides open to reveal a rather disheveled looking kunoichi, and Hisafuku herself, without a hair out of place.

"Ronokichi, why don't you walk Yamanaka-san out." Hisafuku suggests, "Afterwards, you may be dismissed for the night."

Ronokichi bows. She's never been more thankful towards her mother before in her entire life. "Thank you, okaa-sama. I hope you enjoy your evening, Kisuke-sama."

"Of course," she can feel the man's eyes on her, even as she walks away hand-in-hand with the Yamanaka kunoichi. "I'm in good hands, after all."

That night, Ronokichi dreams of a man with dark eyes and a vile odor crawling his way out of the shadows to taunt her. Hisafuku says nothing when Ronokichi crawls under her blankets in the with fresh tears on her cheeks.

Ronokichi thinks nothing of it when she doesn't see Kisuke again for a couple of weeks.

* * *

He emerges from the shadows.

Well. Not exactly. He stupidly decides to pull her into an alleyway right after she parts ways with the nice Yamanaka kunoichi who often gifts her with candies and books whenever she visits Hisafuku after a mission. He's watched her often enough. Ronokichi _always _walks the kunoichi out of the house.

He's playing a dangerous game, grabbing her while they're so close to the house, but he doesn't care. He's _angry. _He has one of his clammy hands clamped over her mouth, and an arm wrapped around her torso to keep her from running.

"What did you say to her, you slut?"

She doesn't understand.

"Why am I banned from the house?" He asks, voice trembling, and her eyes widen in acknowledgment. It's not hard for her to figure out _what _house he's banned from. She just doesn't know _why_, because she has voiced none of her concerns to her mother.

Kisuke slams her back against the wall, and the harsh brick scratches against the skin of her arms when she flails, but the hand on her neck tightens threateningly. "If you scream," he hisses, "I'll crush your throat before they'll even get to me. Nod if you understand."

Ronokichi knows from tea-time that Kisuke was a career genin before he retired to take over his family's business. He's had ninja training. She cannot hope to escape him.

She nods.

Satisfied by her response, he chuckles. Ronokichi grimaces when the warm puffs of his breath grace her face. The smell of alcohol is the worst it's ever been. He notices her distaste and grins.

"Do you not like me, Kichi-chan?" The man asks, shaking her, "I just want to play!"

She shuts her eyes and shakes her head. _She_ doesn't want to play.

"I see how you _play _with those little boyfriends of yours. You're a _slut_, just like your mother." His other hand (the one _not _wrapped around her throat) reaches up and squeezes her cheeks, puckering her lips. "I saw you kiss them. You're a bit too young to be copying your mother, aren't you?"

She's kicking her legs and shoving him away with her arms, but she's just so _small_. She doesn't want this. She wants to scream, to make _some _type of noise, but with his hands on her neck and face, the most she can do is whimper pathetically.

"Hey, why don't you give _me _a kiss to make it up to me?" He asks after some consideration, "You look _just _like your mother, and I miss her, you know?"

Ronokichi attempts to shake her head as best she can.

"You don't want to? That's no problem. I _told _you that I like my girls with a bit of spunk."

She squeezes her eyes shut and clenches her teeth with all the might, with _all the power_ that her body can muster.

When the man makes the mistake of letting go of her face in favor of caressing her cheek, Ronokichi decides, _fuck it_. She'd rather _die _than to allow this horrible, vile man to violate her any more— to terrorize her any more than he already has.

She screams.

"Shit! You stupid bitch!" Kisuke drops her in surprise before grabbing her by the collar of her kimono and back handing her _hard_ with a chakra enhanced hand. "The Yamanaka is_ still close_, I can sense her!"

He slaps her again. "I'd have let you go quietly if you'd just did as I said!"

He raises his arm once more, and by this point, Ronokichi's curled into herself defensively. A third slap doesn't come.

Instead, there's a thud; and when she opens her eyes, kind, blue ones greet her.

"I'm _so sorry_ I came so late," the Yamanaka kunoichi wraps her up in a warm embrace, "He's gone now, okay? He'll never hurt anyone ever again."

If Yamanaka-san wasn't her favorite of her mother's clients before, she definitely is _now_. Ronokichi says nothing as her arms wrap around the woman's neck and she presses her face into her chest. She allows the familiar yet jarring feeling of bodyflickers overtake her mind, and rubs her face on the cloth of Yamanaka-san's shirt in order to try to force her body to _forget _the feeling of that man's touch.

Ronokichi doesn't allow herself to cry until she is safely deposited back into her mother's arms.

For once, Hisafuku doesn't reprimand her as she wails for her 'mama' instead of her 'okaa-sama.'

* * *

"You'd be good at taijutsu, you know." Shin comments as he watches her go through the dance positions, fluidly, without any thought. "Your muscles are quick to remember."

There's a look of concentration on her face as her body to falls from a graceful form to that of an Academy-standard kata stance. "Well, I won't _deny_ that I'd be good at it."

Shin hops up from his perch and circles around her, occasionally moving in to fix her form. "But?"

"But I don't think I'd like it much." She bends her knees and settles into a much lower, more defensive position.

He kicks her knees apart and pulls on her shoulders to straighten her back. "Well, Shisui checked, and you certainly don't have large enough reserves to be a _ninjutsu_ specialist."

She laughs as she allows her body to sway to a song that only she can hear, her dance now occasionally incorporating taijutsu. Ronokichi doesn't want to be a ninjutsu specialist anyway. Not only would she be bound to two (maybe three, if she's _lucky_) elements at most, leaving little to no room for creativity; she'd also have to announce her every move for her opponents to hear, leaving no room for surprises.

"Well, we have quite a bit of time before I have to settle on something."

She _is _only four. Pre-academy begins for most children at five years old, and after the initial weeding (the ill, physically weak, orphans, children of civilian families and clans), general academy lessons start at seven. Pre-academy is not required, though she'd prefer it if she could go to form connections.

After all, Hisafuku always goes on about how important _image _and _connections _are.

"I guess you're right," Shin ruffles her hair, "you remind me a bit of Ita-chan, so sometimes I forget that you're so young."

She has yet to meet Shisui's cousin, but after being compared with him so frequently by her two older friends, she feels that she must share some sort of kinship with him.

(Meanwhile, at the Uchiha compound, a young boy with long, sleek hair sneezes.

"Ohnonono!" Shisui squeaks, "You can't be sick! Your mom will kick my ass!"

The other boy sniffs.

"I'm not ill. And watch your language. Mother will revive you and kill you again if Sasuke repeats after you."

Cue a shocked gasp.

"Ita-chan! Are you making fun of me?")

Ronokichi shrugs before doing some mental calculations in her head. She has about eight months to convince her mother to sign her up with the next batch of pre-academy students. If Hisafuku stays stubborn, she can push her deadline to two years, skip pre-academy, and head straight for general studies.

It all seems so easy in _theory_, however, knowing who her mother is, and how _beautiful_ they expect her to be in a few years time, the Okiya will not let her go easily. Ronokichi is highly intelligent, and is a naturally gifted performer. Many of the okiya's patrons have already taken a liking to her, and she's overheard that her virtue _already has bidders_. It's very likely that if she cannot convince her mother in eight months time, she _never _will.

Her memory flashes to the events of the previous day, and she suppresses a shudder.

She needs to catch the eye of someone important. She needs to _force _the Okiya to give her up. Ronokichi refuses to ever be _touched _in such a manner ever again. She needs to escape this place and become strong.

"Oi, what's got you thinking so hard?" Shin interrupts her internal freak-out.

She raises an eyebrow to feign indifference, but her shoulders relax.

"It's weird seeing you without a smile!"

Ronokichi's personality has always been more on the passive and carefree side, but something within her has changed. She's been uncharacteristically quiet, and though she has been dancing as she always does, Shin has noticed a shift to her movements. Her body is tense, as if waiting for someone or something to leap out of the shadows and attack at a moment's notice.

"Why the sudden interest in becoming a ninja, anyway? You only cared to become an entertainer before."

Wrong.

She only cared to become a _dancer _before, but recent events have opened her eyes. Her mother can live as freely as she does because she is the top tayu. Eventually, she will age, and a younger, more talented, and prettier woman will replace her, and the security that Hisafuku provides her will go away. Ronokichi can't see the future. There are no guarantees that her parentage (after Hisafuku retires) will make it any easier for her to become a top geisha or tayu. Not only that, but _only tayu _are allowed to turn away clients.

There are no guarantees for her safety or freedom in the future. Ronokichi isn't under any delusions. The Okiya sees her as only one thing. An _item_. An _object _to be bought, sold, and used— they don't care what for. She never gave it much thought nor minded before, but Ronokichi observed her mother's coworkers more closely today than she ever has, and she wants to throw a tantrum now that she's discovered just how naive she's been. Many of the women bore bruises around their necks and wrists, and who _knows_ where else.

She's sure now, where the bruises come from. The only reason why Hisafuku doesn't have any that Ronokichi's knows of is because _she _has the power to turn away clients, but she was once a lower leveled oiran, too, was she not?

There is no doubt in her mind that Hisafuku has once bore the same bruises,

"Elite jounin are the most free." Ronokichi answers.

Shin considers it. Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama (and to a lesser extent, Orochimaru) all traverse the lands as they please. They're not on the active duty rosters anymore, but any person with even half a brain knows not to mess with them. Sarutobi Asuma basically ran away from home to live at some temple. Hatake Kakashi has failed, what? Six genin teams at this point, is constantly late to everything _ever_, and is infamous for reading pornography in public, but has been reprimanded for absolutely nothing. Mitarashi Anko _frequently _runs around town to bar hop, pick random fights, and generally be a menace to society. Ronokichi's not exactly _wrong_.

"I'm going to become an elite jounin. I'm going to become so strong that no one will _ever _be able toforce me to do _anything _ever again."

She says it with so much conviction, that Shin can only stare with his mouth agape in response. (He doesn't want to remind her that, _actually, the hokage and the village in general can technically force you to do things for them_.) He doesn't know what lead to this change in character, but he's completely sold. He and Shisui are going to do everything in their power to help her achieve her goal.


End file.
